麻豆影视

Skip to main content

South Korea warns it can send arms to Ukraine after reports of North's troops in Russia

Share
SEOUL, South Korea -

South Korea warned Tuesday it could consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea allegedly dispatching troops to Russia, as both North Korea and Russia denied the movements.

The South Korean statement is apparently meant to pressure Russia not to bring in North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine. South Korean officials worry that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that can boost the North's nuclear and missile programs that target South Korea.

In an emergency National Security Council meeting, top South Korean officials condemned North Korea's alleged dispatch of troops as "a grave security threat" to South Korea and the international community. They described North Korea as "a criminal group" that forces its youths to serve as Russian mercenaries for an unjustifiable war, the South Korean presidential office said in a statement.

The officials agreed to take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their responses to progress in Russian-North Korean military cooperation, according to the statement.

Possible steps include diplomatic, economic and military options, and South Korea could consider sending both defensive and offensive weapons to Ukraine, a senior South Korean presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity in a background briefing.

The official said North Korea could attempt to get high-tech Russian technologies to perfect its nuclear missiles. The official said Russia's possible help for North Korea's efforts to modernize its outdated conventional weapons systems and acquire a space-based surveillance system would pose a serious security threat to South Korea as well.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms to Ukraine in line with its policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts.

South Korea's spy agency said last week it had confirmed that North Korea sent 1,500 special operation forces to Russia this month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government had intelligence that 10,000 North Korea soldiers were being prepared to join invading Russian forces.

North Korea and Russia intensify cooperation

North Korea and Russia have been sharply boosting their cooperation in the past two years. In June, they signed a major defence deal requiring both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked. South Korea said at the time it would consider sending arms to Ukraine, a similar statement that it made Tuesday.

South Korea's spy agency said that North Korea had sent more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional arms to Russia since August 2023 to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.

North Korea and Russia have denied the North Korean troop deployment as well as the purported weapons transfer.

At a UN Security Council meeting Monday, Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the South Korean assertion as well as Western allegations of Iran supplying Russia with missiles and China providing arms components. He accused the West of "circulating scaremongering with Iranian, Chinese and Korean bogeymen, each one of which is more absurd than the one before."

At a separate UN committee meeting, a North Korean diplomat said his delegation feels no need to comment on the troop dispatch, calling it "groundless, stereotype rumors aimed at smearing the image" of the North and undermining the legitimate cooperation between two sovereign states.

Also Tuesday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korean and Ukraine governments "lunatics" as she slammed them for making "reckless remarks against nuclear weapons states."

The U.S. and NATO haven't confirmed North Korea's troop deployment, but they warned against the danger of such a development if true.

U.S. deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said that if true, the North Korean troop dispatch marks "a dangerous and highly concerning development" and noted that the U.S. was "consulting with our allies and partners on such a dramatic move."

----

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Ontario Provincial Police charged an impaired Vermont man who illegally crossed the border into Canada and thought he was still in the United States.

麻豆影视 is projecting the New Brunswick Liberals will form a majority government in the province, returning to power for the first time since 2018. Leader Susan Holt will become the first female premier of the province.

The University Health Network is making masks mandatory as respiratory illness season ramps up.

Local Spotlight

A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.

The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.

A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.

A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥

John Cantin vividly remembers opening day for his Victoria diner. Stress levels were high, tables were full, and one of the most popular menu items couldn鈥檛 be freed from the unyielding grip of the waffle maker.

A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.

A B.C. judge has issued a decision in a years-long dispute between neighbours that began with a noise complaint over barking dogs, crowing roosters and quacking ducks 鈥 awarding $15,000 in damages to the plaintiffs in the case.